Lydian alphabet

For other uses, see Lydian (disambiguation).

Lydian
Script type	Alphabet
Time period	700-200 BCE
Direction	Right-to-left script
Languages	Lydian language
Related scripts
Parent systems	Greek alphabet Lydian
Sister systems	Other Alphabets of Asia Minor
ISO 15924
ISO 15924	Lydi (116), ​Lydian
Unicode
Unicode alias	Lydian

Lydian script was used to write the Lydian language. That the language preceded the script is indicated by names in Lydian, which must have existed before they were written. Like other scripts of Anatolia in the Iron Age, the Lydian alphabet is a modification of the East Greek alphabet, but it has unique features. The same Greek letters may not represent the same sounds in both languages or in any other Anatolian language (in some cases it may). Moreover, the Lydian script is alphabetic.

Early Lydian texts are written both from left to right and from right to left. Later texts are exclusively written from right to left. One text is boustrophedon. Spaces separate words except that one text uses dots. Lydian uniquely features a quotation mark in the shape of a right triangle.

The alphabet

The Lydian alphabet is closely related to the other alphabets of Asia Minor as well as to the Greek alphabet. It contains letters for 26 sounds. Some are represented by more than one symbol, which is considered one "letter." Unlike the Carian alphabet, which had an f derived from Φ, the Lydian f has the peculiar 8 shape also found in the Etruscan alphabet.

The Lydian Alphabet

Lydian Letter	Transliteration	Sound	Table Notes
	a	vowel	a and ā
	ã	nasal vowel
	b	stop consonant	Probably /p/ (voiceless)
	d	stop consonant	/ð/
	c	affricate	/dz/
	e	vowel
	ẽ	nasal vowel
	f	fricative
	g	stop consonant
	i
	y
	k	stop consonant
	l	lateral consonant
	λ	Not the Greek lateral consonant
	m
	n
	ν	Not the greek n
	o	vowel
	q	labio-velar	/kw/
q	r	liquid consonant
	s		/ç/
	s'	sibilant consonant	/s/
T	t	stop consonant
	τ	affricate	/ts/
y	u	semivowel
	v

References

• Adiego, I.J. (2007), "Greek and Lydian", in Christidis, A.F.; Arapopoulou, Maria; Chriti, Maria (eds.), A History of Ancient Greek From the Beginning to Late Antiquity, Cambridge University press, ISBN 0521833078 {{citation}}: Unknown parameter |coauthor= ignored (|author= suggested) (help). Translator Chris Markham.
• Gusmani, R. Lydisches Wörterbuch. Mit grammatischer Skizze und Inschriftensammlung, Heidelberg 1964 (Ergänzungsband 1-3, Heidelberg 1980-1986).
• Melchert, H. Craig (2004) "Lydian", in Roger D. Woodard (ed.), The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the World's Ancient Languages. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-56256-2. pp. 601-608.
• Shevoroshkin, V. The Lydian Language, Moscow, 1977.

See also

• Lycian language

External links

• Everson, Michael (2006-02-05). "Proposal to encode the Lycian and Lydian scripts in the SMP of the UCS" (pdf). DKUUG Standardization. Danish Unix User Group (DKUUG). Retrieved 2008-03-18.
• Lydian Grammar by Cyril Babaev
• Lydian Language